Utd players surprise Foundation day

School children invited to Manchester United’s Aon Training Complex in Carrington had a day to remember when the entire first-team squad joined them for an afternoon of activities.

It was always going to be a memorable experience as they were told they were going to meet the club’s Foundation coaches for the afternoon.

What they did not know, however, was that the United players would also be on hand at the event straight after training ahead of the weekend game with Leicester City, live on Super Sunday.

The club’s Foundation has been in operation for almost a decade and has established a programme called ‘#Schoolsunited’ involving 13 partner schools around Greater Manchester.

“We work in some of the most disadvantaged areas and, for some of them, Old Trafford is a dream, to even get to see a game, but to actually come and mix and engage with the first-team players is something they dream about,” said hub manager Dave Chapman.

“Every child within this room now, every student, every participant has earned the right to be here. We’ve got some children here who wouldn’t speak to anybody, their confidence was shot, they were so low.

“And then a year or two into our partnership they’re here mixing with people from the other side of Manchester.”

The children from each of the schools were partnered with a member of Louis Van Gaal’s squad for the afternoon.

And while the likes of captain Wayne Rooney and birthday boy Juan Mata have made their name on Old Trafford’s hallowed turf, this was an opportunity to see them doing something different, from playing table tennis to answering tricky questions from potential young journalists in a specially designed interview booth.

One of the victims up for interview was midfielder Ander Herrera.

“Of course, of course because sometimes they are so sincere,” he said. “That’s why sometimes they make us feel a little bit in a problem but it’s very nice to answer questions because they are all fans, they are the future of Manchester United.”

The Foundation’s work is not just limited to working with schools, however, as the players soon discovered.

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